Union Minister of Textiles, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal held an in depth review of initiatives undertaken by Ministry of Textiles for giving a boost to the textiles sector here today. Minister of State for Textiles, Smt.Darshna Jardosh was also present. Shri U.P. Singh, Secretary Textiles, Shri V. K. Singh, Additional Secretary, Joint Secretaries, DC Handicrafts and other senior officials of the Ministry participated in the meeting. Shri V. K. Singh made a detailed presentation giving an overview of the entire Textiles Sector. The Minister was briefed about the broad contours of Indian Textiles Sector. It was informed that Textiles which is one of the oldest industries in India, dating back several centuries contributes 2.3% to Indian GDP, 7% of the Industrial Output,12% to the export earnings of India and employs more than 45 million persons (Direct) which is 21 % of total employment. India is the 6th largest producer of Technical Textiles with 6% Global Share (12% CAGR), largest producer of cotton & jute in the world. Cotton production supports 5.8 Million farmers & 40-50 Million people in allied sectors. India is also the second largest producer of silk in the world and 95% of the world’s hand woven fabric comes from India.Speaking on the occasion, Shri Piyush Goyal said that by enhancing productivity of local artisans & domestic industry, we will realise the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat under the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He further said that Textiles sector has great potential and it should be realised by using innovations, latest technology and facilitations. The Minister also expressed confidence that there will be a big growth in this sector. He asked the concerned officials to think and undertake necessary measures for increasing income of people employed in Textiles, put efforts to bring consistency in quality of handloom and eliminate child labour from the textiles sector.